It’s a bird … it’s a plane!

Actually, it’s a Cessna Skyhawk. TSU’s department of Aviation Science & Technology was informed last week that it has won Cessna’s Top Hawk 2019 contest, to which aviation programs across the U.S. apply to earn the use of a training aircraft (a Cessna 172 G1000 Skyhawk) for nine months. TSU’s application included a video entry in addition to a written marketing and operations plan for the aircraft. The Skyhawk is the world’s most popular trainer, which will give TSU’s aviation student an extra advantage when going through the program. Over the next decade, there is expected to be a shortage of 100,000 pilots worldwide with many current pilots retiring or leaving the industry. TSU is one of the top producers of minority pilots and aviation management professionals in the state and the nation. According to TSU’s director of aviation, Dr. Terence Fontaine, the Cessna Skyhawk will be delivered – complete in TSU’s maroon and gray colors – in early 2019.